I have been overweight since I was four years old. When I was eight years old, I became bulimic and did this for at least four years. As a teenager I avoided food altogether and took over-the-counter diet pills. I moved in with my boyfriend when I was twenty years old and tried to get pregnant. After months of trying, I starting looking at what I was doing that might be the problem for my infertility. I started to eat healthier, but the sudden food intake made me gain thirty pounds in one month. In the past thirteen years, I gained another twenty five.. I am now thirty three years old, I weigh 200 pounds and still infertile. Finally: My concerns and questions!
1). I have been actively exercising at least five times a week for a at least ten years yet nothing budges off my midsection. My legs and arms are shapely and slender, my butt is flat as my back but my stomach bulges out like I'm full term.
2). I am thinking about getting liposuction and a breast reduction but I get keloid scar tissue. Will this prevent me from breast feeding? Can I take lots of vitatimin E and C to avoid keloids?
3). I am also thinking about joining a "prepackaged food" weight loss program and I worry still if I eat too few calories, I will just teach my body to lower its metabolism even more. I wonder if my metabolism can be measured before hand so I know what MY calorie intake should be.
4). If I have been eating @ 1,200 calories a day for years, what will my metabolism do?
I am concern if I finally get pregnant and changing my calorie intake; I will just double in size!
Thank you for reading this long post,
Merry Robin
PS Im not diabetic,,,just concern I fit the profile.

First of all, if you are eating 1200 calories a week and excercising 5 times a week, you are not getting enough calories to provide the energy you need, there going into starvation mode and hoarding them as fat. It won't let go of any fat, it takes from muscle tissue, where glycogen is stored (a sugar).

If you know how to eat healthy, step up the good carbs. Eat more protein. Have 4-5 little meals of protein, fruit and/or veggies with good carbs. (Do you know the difference?)

Step up the calories, not reduce the exercise! :D

If you count calories now, eat at least 15-1800 per day.

Your speed of metabolism can't be measured, it depends on your level of activity.

As far as your body shape, you're an apple (fat is stored around the middle, small butt, thin legs), you will lose from your arms, butt, hips and legs first, then you will start losing from your midsection. It is the highest risk for cancer, diabetes,heart disease. There is absolutely nothing you can do to change this, but when you get to a healthier weight, it's an extremely attractive body shape; many actresses have this shape, but take the thinness to the extreme. Don't bother spot reducing or taking pills that claim to. I am so glad to hear that you are trying to get fit the healthy way instead of those ridiculous fad diets that I'm sure you know by now do not work. This lifestyle is easy and get results. It works forever if you continue! :D

As for the infertility, you may have a problem such as polycystic ovarian syndrome. Overweight very stubborn is one feature. Do you have irregular and/or very heavy periods, acne, maybe hairier than you'd like? Have you seen a GYN about your infertility? Has she tested you for POS?

Ask a plastic surgeon or dermatologist about keloid scarring after liposuction, I'm not sure.

As for the infertility, you may have a problem such as polycystic ovarian syndrome. Overweight very stubborn is one feature. Do you have irregular and/or very heavy periods, acne, maybe hairier than you'd like? Have you seen a GYN about your infertility? Has she tested you for POS?

About ten years ago I had a gynecologist that took my concern seriously. She tested my hormone levels and looked at my ovaries. I remember she said that the hormones where normal and that I did have cysts on my ovaries, but nothing to be concern about. I have very irregular periods. I have very light bleeding for two to three weeks and 4-6 week intervals. As for being hairy and acne prone; just the opposite. I never had acne problem, just occasional whitehead around my nose. I shave much less often than other girls. I can got without shaving a whole summer and its barely visible (on my legs I’m talking about =p).

Good; POS can cause great difficulty with fertility. Are you still trying? Have you been trying most of the last ten years? When is the last time you saw a GYN for the infertility problem? Do you know when you are ovulating?

Irregular periods can definitely change the times you ovulate; but there is a method to determine when you are.

My concern is you bleeding for weeks at a time. That is definitely not normal, and there is a reason for that. Were you having the exact same problem when your GYN said you were completely normal? A lot can change in ten years!

Have you considered seeing a fertility specialist? They can usually get to the bottom of things. If you have been trying for a long time, it could be your partner's lack of sperm that is the problem; he will need to be tested for that.

I know I have a lot of questions, please get back and perhaps I could be of more help.

Hi Shannon,
I looked up POS and its worth asking about. Im seeing a new doctor next month and she was highly recommended by a friend.
I have no clue when Im ovulating, or if I am. In the past when I told doctors that I had an irregular period, they would only suggest taking birth control pills to regulate it. I didn't see that as a solution to the problem. I am interested in seeing a fertility specialist, but I do not have insurance and pay out of pocket for medical care. (I have called around for insurance, but I was in a car accident and saw a chiropractor for months afterwards,,now they wont pick me up) .
Thank you for responding so quickly.
Merry Robin